Jannah (Arabic: جنّة Jannah), an eternal place for Muslims, is the Islamic conception of paradise. The Arabic word Jannah is a shortened version meaning simply “Garden”.
According to Islamic eschatology, after death, one will reside in the grave until the appointed resurrection on Yawm al–Qiyāmah. Muslims believe that the treatment of the individual in the life of the grave will be according to his or her deeds in the worldly life. Jannah is often compared to Christian concepts of Heaven. According to Muslim belief, everything one longs for in this world will be there in Paradise.
Jannat-ul-Firdaws
The highest level of Paradise is Firdaws (Arabic: فردوس), which is where the prophets, the martyrs and the most truthful and pious people will dwell. In contrast to Jannah, the words Jahannam and Nār are used to refer to the concept of hell. There are many words in the Arabic language for both Heaven and Hell and those words also appear in the Quran and Hadeeth and most of them have become part of the Islamic traditions.
Names of Jannah in Holy Qur’an
- Firdaws — The Highest Gardens of the Paradise (al-Kahf, Al-Mu’minoon)
- Dār al-maqāmah — The Home (Fāṭir)
- Dār al-salām — Home of Peace (Yūnus)
- Dār al-Ākhirah — The Home in the Hereafter (al-‘Ankabūt)
- al-Jannah — This is the most commonly used term in the Qur’an and Hadith. (al-Baqarah, Āl ‘Imran, al-Ma’idah)
- Jannat al-ʿadn — Gardens of Everlasting Bliss (al-Tawbah: 72, al-Ra‘d)
- Jannat al-Khuld — The Eternal Gardens (al-Furqān)
- Jannat al-Ma’wā — Garden of Abode (al-Najm)
- Jannat al-Na‘īm — The Gardens of Delight (al-Mā’idah, Yūnus, al-Ḥajj)
- Maq‘ad al-Ṣidq — Assembly of Truth (al-Qamar)
- al-Maqām al-Amīn — The House of Security (al-Dukhān)
Doors of Jannah
According to hadith, there are eight doors of Jannah. Their names are as following:
- Bāb al–Ṣalāh: For those who were punctual in prayer.
- Bāb al-Jihād: For those who took part in jihad.
- Bāb al-Ṣadaqah: For those who gave charity more often.
- Bāb al-Rayyān: For those who fasted (siyam).
- Bāb al-Ḥajj: For those participated in the annual pilgrimage.
- Bāb al-Kāẓimīn al-Ghayẓ wa-al-‘Āfīn ‘an al-Nās: For those who withheld their anger and forgave others.
- Bāb al-Aymān: For those who by virtue of their faith are saved from reckoning and chastisement.
- Bāb al-Dhikr: For those who showed zeal in remembering Allah.
Allah says in Holy Qur’an:
“Truly, the muttaqun (the pious and righteous persons) will be amidst Gardens and water-springs (Jannah). (It will be said to them): ‘Enter therein (Jannah), in peace and security.’ And We shall remove from their breasts any deep feeling of bitterness (that they may have). (So they will be like) brothers facing each other on thrones. No sense of fatigue shall touch them, nor shall they (ever) be asked to leave it.” [Al-Qur’an 15:45-48]
“(It will be said to the believers of Islamic Monotheism): ‘My slaves! No fear shall be on you this Day, nor shall you grieve. (You) who believed in Our ayat (proofs, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) and were Muslims (i.e., who submit totally to Allah’s Will, and believe in the Oneness of Allah). Enter Jannah, you and your wives, in happiness.’ Trays of gold and cups will be passed round them; (there will be) therein all that inner-selves could desire, and all that eyes could delight in and you will abide therein forever. This is the Jannah which you have been made to inherit because of your deeds which you used to do (in the life of the world). Therein for you will be fruits in plenty, of which you will eat (as you desire).” [Al-Qur’an 43:68-73]
“Verily, the muttaqun (the pious), will be in place of security (Jannah). Among Gardens and springs dressed in fine silk and (also) in thick silk, facing each other. So (it will be). And We shall marry them to hur (fair females) with wide, lovely eyes. They will call therein for every kind of fruit in peace and security. They will never taste death therein except the first death (of this world), and He will save them from the torment of the blazing Fire. As a bounty from your Rabb! That will be the supreme success!” [Al-Qur’an 44:51-57]
“Verily, al-abrar (the pious and righteous) will be in Delight (Jannah). On thrones, looking (at all things). You will recognise in their faces the brightness of delight. They will be given to drink of pure sealed wine. The last thereof (that wine) will be the smell of musk, and for this let (all) those strive who want to strive (i.e., hasten earnestly to the obedience of Allah). It (that wine) will be mixed with tasnim. A spring whereof drink those nearest to Allah.” [Al-Qur’an 83:22-28]
Ahadees related to Jannah
Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him, said, “The inhabitants of Jannah will eat and drink therein, but they will not have to pass excrement, to blow their noses or to urinate. Their food will be digested producing belch which will give out a smell like that of musk. They will be inspired to declare the freedom of Allah from imperfection and proclaim His Greatness as easily as you breathe.” [Muslim]
Another narration is that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him, said, “Their utensils will be of gold, their perspiration will smell like musk; everyone of them will have two wives; the marrow of the bones of the wives’ legs will be seen through the flesh out of excessive beauty. They (i.e., the people of Jannah) will neither have difference, nor enmity (hatred) amongst themselves; their hearts will be as if one heart, and they will be glorifying Allah in the morning and in the afternoon.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Abu Musa, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the Prophet, may Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him, said, “In Jannah the believer will have a tent made of a single hollowed pearl of which the length will be sixty miles in the sky. The believer will have his wives with him and he will visit them and they will not be able to see one another.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Abu Sa’id Al-Khudhri, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the Prophet, may Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him, said, “There is a tree in Jannah that is so huge that if a rider of a swift horse has to cover its distance from one end to another in one hundred years, he will not be able to do so.”
Another narration from Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, is that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him, said, “A rider will not be able to cross its (the tree’s) shade even after travelling for one hundred years.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Another narration from Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, is that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him, said, “A rider will not be able to cross its (the tree’s) shade even after travelling for one hundred years.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Abu Sa’id Al-Khudhri, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the Prophet, may Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him, said, “The dwellers of Jannah will look at those in the upper abodes above them as you look at a shining star which remains in the eastern or western horizon; such will be the difference in superiority which some of them have over others.” The Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him, was asked: “Will those be the dwellings of the Prophets which no one else will be able to reach?” He, may Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him, replied, “Yes, but by Him in Whose Hand my soul is! men who believed in Allah and acknowledged the truthfulness of the Messengers will reach them.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him, said, “In Jannah there is a market to which the people will come every Friday. The northern wind will blow and shower fragrance on their faces and clothes and, consequently, it will enhance their beauty and loveliness. They will then return to their wives who will also have increased in their beauty and loveliness, and their families will say to them: ‘We swear by Allah that you have been increased in beauty and loveliness since leaving us.’ Thereupon they will reply: ‘We swear by Allah that you have also been increased in beauty and loveliness since we left you.” [Muslim]].
Abu Sa’id and Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with them, reported the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him, said, “When the dwellers of Jannah enter Jannah, an announcer will call: (You have a promise from Allah that) you will live therein and you will never die; you will stay healthy therein and you will never fall ill; you will stay young and you will never become old; you will be under a constant bliss and you will never feel miserable” [Muslim]
Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him, said, “The lowest place of any of you in Jannah will be that Allah will tell him to express his wish. He will wish and wish again. Allah will then ask him: ‘Have you expressed your wish?’ He will answer: ‘Yes, I have.’ Allah will say: ‘You will have what you have wished for and the like thereof along with it.’ “ [Muslim]
Abu Sa’id Al-Khudhri, may Allah be pleased with him, said the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him, said, “Allah, the Rabb of honour and glory, will say to the inhabitants of Jannah’ ‘O inhabitants of Jannah!’ They will respond: ‘Here we are! At Your service, O our Rabb. All good is in Your Hand!’ He will ask them: ‘Are you pleased?’ They will reply: ‘Why should we not be pleased, O Rabb, when You have given us what You have not given to any of Your creatures?’ Allah will say: ‘Shall I not give you something better than that?’ They will ask: ‘O Rabb! What can be better than that?’ Allah will say: ‘I shall bestow My Pleasure upon you and I shall never be displeased with you.’ “ [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Jarir bin ‘Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported: We were sitting with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him, when he looked at the full moon and observed, “You shall see your Rabb in the Hereafter as you are seeing this moon; and you will not feel the slightest inconvenience in seeing Him.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Suhayb, may Allah be pleased with him, reported the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him, said, “When the inhabitants of Jannah enter Jannah, Allah, the Glorious and Exalted, will say to them: ‘Do you wish me to give you anything more?’ They will reply: ‘Have You not made our faces bright? Have You not brought us into Jannah and delivered us from the Hell?’ And Allah will remove the Veil. The (dwellers of Jannah) will feel that they have not been awarded anything dearer to them than looking at their Rabb.” [Muslim]
